Under the Blue Moon Festival Wakes from the Dead

Under the Blue Moon Festival presented by Drum Media + Furr Hair  the festival of all things darkly beautiful, takes on Halloween. The festival is now in its 6th year is shaping up to be the spookiest yet; with bands, burlesque, gothic lectures, coffin raffles, dark alternative fashion, zombies, discount shopping, vampires, bats, hearses, curses and S&M nurses, Under The Blue Moon Festival is the place to experience an authentic and truly spooky Halloween.

The Festival wakes from the dead on Tuesday 27th October at the Polymorph Gallery where the winner of the Under The Blue Moon Art Prize will be announced. Applications are now open for artists to enter – so if your artwork has been rejected for being a little too macabre then this is the art prize for you. Also on Tuesday 27th October fetch your sketch pads and head down to The ArtHouse Hotel for an evening with Dr. Sketchys for an evening of life drawing with a difference, tickets are $18 and can be purchased from the festival website.

On Friday 30th October take a step back in time with the opening of Theatre of Blood at the Newtown Theatre. A new late-night horror program modelled on the cult ultra-violent horror theatre, the Grand Guignol, which ran in Paris through the first half of the twentieth century, influencing everything from the films of Boris Karloff to Hammer Horror to Sweeney Todd.

On Festival Market Day 31st October the festival is unleased on the streets of Enmore and Newtown where the festival will again hold Australias largest alternative fashion weekend. Including discount shopping in Australias best eclectic & darkly beautiful shops & stalls in the Newtown Main Square and Enmore Road. This year for Halloween there will be some special trick or treat show bags Win your very own coffin full of prizes worth over $1000 in the UTBM coffin raffle with part of the proceeds from the raffle going to the Cat Protection Society. The festival will also host Australia’s first Gothic All Hallows Eve Mass with candle lit procession at St. Lukes Anglican Church, along with Talks of the weirdly freakish at the funeral parlour and a Dark Alternative Photographic Exhibition and the now infamous antique horse drawn hearse will lead a convoy of vintage hearses along King Street, Newtown.

The festival climaxes at the All Hallows Eve Ball (Licensed All Ages) on 31st October at The Factory Theatre. The main stage line-up includes GPKISM (Japan), Juke Baritone + The Swamp Dogs, The Horrorwood Mannequins, Chaingang and The Mansons with special guest Simon Day. In our dungeon of debauchery its all a little bit kooky and just a little bit kinky hosted by Uber. Be delighted by the sultry Lola The Vamp, the ever so naughty Fancy Piece and Celia Curtis and her bed of nails. DJ’s will be smashing up the dungeon walls all night so be prepared to dance with DJ Requiem, Ash, DJ MetaVirus, Unit 13 and DJ Dasein. The Uber dungeon is an 18+ area only so be sure to bring your photo ID. Doors open 7:30pm – Tickets are on sale now via the festival website $35+ bf. For more information and tickets go to www.underthebluemoon.org.au.

The festival has much more to be announced in the coming weeks so stay tuned, stay dead and stay darkly beautiful.

FESTIVAL PROGRAM

7TH OCTOBER  TUESDAY
Polymorph Gallery Enmore Rd Newtown 7:30pm
UTBM Art Prize Gallery Opening  Polymorph Gallery.
30TH OCTOBER – FRIDAY THEATRE OF BLODD
Newtown Theatre, King Street Newtown
Theatre of Blood is a new late-night horror program opening at the Newtown Theatre in October. It’s modelled on the cult ultra-violent horror theatre, The Grand Guignol, which ran in Paris through the first half of the twentieth century, influencing everything from the films of Boris Karloff to Hammer Horror to Sweeney Todd.